Supply Bill 2017

by Adrian Pederickon May 10, 2017

Adjourned debate on second reading (resumed on motion).

Mr PEDERICK (Hammond) (17:18): I rise to speak to the Supply Bill grievance debate. I note there has been a bit of discussion today about the federal budget handed down by Scott Morrison and the Turnbull federal government last night, and I want to make a few points in regard to that. The simple fact is that the federal government is delivering $10.6 billion in total payments to South Australia in 2017-18 alone, across health, education industry and infrastructure, and in this budget there is $3.1 billion in infrastructure spending for South Australia.

Another thing that has happened is that $40 million over four years for supplementary road funding has been reinstated for local governments. This goes on top of what has been the largest single investment in any one state or territory in the history of the commonwealth: the $89 billion naval shipbuilding program, which will secure South Australia's future for generations by creating more than 5,000 direct jobs and thousands more across the supply chain. SAHMRI 2 has $68 million in 2017-18 to support the establishment of a proton beam therapy facility. There has been a bit of discussion about that. It is world-leading technology coming to this state.

We see education funding through schools in South Australia continuing to grow to record levels, with $16 billion being invested over 10 years. The federal government is supporting energy in this state with $36.6 million for energy infrastructure, plus $110 million equity funding for building solar thermal with storage in Port Augusta. Certainly, South Australian businesses will benefit from further assistance in the transition to high-end manufacturing through the $100 million advanced manufacturing fund. I have talked about a lot of those issues.

The commonwealth is also committed to regulatory reform to make it easier for businesses to operate, providing incentives to remove unnecessary restrictions on competition and cut red tape through a national partnership on regulatory reform. The commonwealth will make available $300 million in funding over two years, from 2017-18, for the delivery of reforms that drive Australia's economic performance, with a focus on small business deregulation. The budget also guarantees Medicare with the establishment of the Medicare guarantee fund, which can only be used to pay for Medicare and medicines. The National Disability Insurance Scheme will be fully funded to secure the future for South Australians with disabilities.

Major projects that are on the go in this state at the moment are 80 per cent federal funded. Today, we heard the transport minister expressing his faux disgust at not having more money fed to South Australia. It just shows how this state Labor government relies so heavily on that 80 per cent funding from the federal government for these major projects. These projects include the north-south corridor Darlington interchange, $496 million, with $198.7 million of that to be provided in 2017-18; the north-south corridor Torrens Road to River Torrens project, $400.5 million, with $105 million in 2017-18; the north-south corridor Northern Connector, $708 million, with $233.8 million to be provided in 2017-18; the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands, $85 million, with $23.8 million to be provided in 2017-18; and Flinders Link, $42.7 million, with $36.3 million to be provided in 2017-18.

Back in the 2016 federal election, the Australian government committed $56 million towards these three projects across the state: Oaklands crossing, the Lobethal B-double route and Marion Road planning projects. Certainly, the Lobethal B-double route will be vital for Thomas Foods abattoir at Lobethal. There is a $10 billion rail fund in the budget and projects such as the AdeLINK can apply for funding, pending the submission of a business case yet to be submitted by the state government. As indicated earlier, there is the reinstatement of supplementary road funding, which I know will please South Australian local governments.

Interestingly, I heard some comments by the Treasurer today on FIVEaa, where he was trying to tell the people of South Australia a simple untruth. He was saying that $500 million of federal money would have shored up Holden to stay in this state. That is simply not true at all. The head of General Motors in Detroit made the decision. They said that no amount of subsidy would keep them here in Australia, and that is a fact that anyone can check out. So, we have a government that is a bit loose with the truth, to say the least.

Yet we see funding that can be made available to this state, like the River Murray diversification funding, which I have talked about many times in this place, which would have put $25 million throughout South Australian river communities, as it did through communities in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Those states all accepted their $25 million, so that was $75 million that went into projects to diversify communities from being so reliant on the River Murray.

But what happens here? We have a government that makes out they do so much for the River Murray, but when it comes down to actually supporting those river communities they just left them in the lurch and walked away. It was an absolute disgrace. They just walked away from those communities, from those projects that would have got those communities to build infrastructure to invest in jobs so they were not so reliant on direct irrigation industries on the River Murray.

It smacks in the face when you see the Treasurer, ministers and Premier Weatherill banging on about supposedly not getting enough funding when they have funding put in their hands and they just do not put it into the communities that drastically need it, yet they will be on their high horse and tell everyone who cares to listen, if they are still listening, about how much they do for the River Murray and River Murray communities.

It is no different from the government finally taking to ESCOSA the supply chain costs in regard to grain handling. This came out of a report from a committee that I established here in this house back after the harvest of 2010-11, and the lack of falling number machines fiasco with Viterra. I note that the member for Frome was on the committee as chair. One recommendation was that supply chain costs should be investigated by ESCOSA so that we could get an accurate picture of those real costs that are attributed right back to individual farmers. That report was tabled in 2012. It has taken five years—five years—to get that recommendation acted on with regard to grain supply chain costs for the thousands of farmers in this state. It is an absolute disgrace.

There are so many things that need support in my electorate. The Murray Bridge emergency department needs $3.5 million to get it up to speed. It has not had any major upgrade there for 30 or 40 years. So much can be done in my electorate. People are still looking for storm recovery funding but are missing out just because they are the wrong side of a council boundary. I have written to the minister about it, and I hope I get a favourable outcome for those few farmers who are in the Karoonda East Murray area.